Jim Moseley: Saucer Smear and Other Foibles

Anyone who has been in the UFO biz for even a little while knows about the legendarySaucer Smear zine. What started out as a small and fairly serious newsletter over 50 years ago has evolved into the publication of record for all of the arguments, infighting and feuds amongst researchers and others in the field. Balanced with Moseley’s sharp humor and eye for a good story, Smear remains the only UFO publication that is eagerly awaited and read from start to finish as soon as “nonsubscribers” get their copies in the mail, usually about once a month.

Moseley’s buddy Tim Brigham asked if I would record a conversation with Jim before he goes in for surgery next week. None of us had any set agenda or questions, but the conversation did feature a few comments from Moseley about researchers Bill Moore and Stanton Friedman, and how much he hated 1960s radio personality Long John Nebel. We also talked about the new director if MUFON and his company which offers “mile high club” (sex flights) for hire. There is much more in this conversation, which only lasted an hour and was interrupted twice by phone calls which Jim stopped the interview to answer.

Enjoy this talk with one of the true legends of the field and a good friend.

Image above is the title page of a book we talk about during the interview.

48 Responses to Jim Moseley: Saucer Smear and Other Foibles

Many people may not know what Joe is referencing here. When I interviewed Jim in the mid-1990s, he read an unreleased poem from Gray Barker which was titled “UFO Is A Bucket Of Shit.” I printed the poem verbatim in The Excluded Middle magazine and since then it has taken on a life of its own.

Did I leave the part of the interview in where Jim said that Steinberg claimed I had “49 listeners?” I don’t know where he would have gotten that figure or why he thinks that he has to compare his show to mine.

I asked Gene Steinberg about his statement. He thinks he was only joking and admits that he doesn’t know how many listeners you have. Personally, I listen to both shows, so its not an either/or for me.

I don’t care or mind much what he says about my show. As you point out, we’re different animals and his objectives are different from mine. He has concentrated his efforts on taking over a large segment of the paranormal broadcasting pie, while it matters little to me if I have 10 listeners or 10,000 (although closer to the high number might be nice.) 🙂

I’d like to really unload on Gene Steinberg but won’t and will only say, your show is far and away better. Most especially because of the excellent conversations you tend to have with guests, and the friendly way in which you can be hostile (note Steinberg just comes off like an asshole). And perhaps most importantly, because you don’t try to sell me gun holsters, end of the world food or cheesy sci fi novels every 4 minutes.

I know that you are not trying to get into a pissing contest with anyone, but for what it is worth…

I am an open-minded skeptic who came across Radio Misterioso entirely by accident about a year ago. I found it so interesting that I sought out other UFOlogical podcasts, all of which I listened to a few times and have since abandoned. You do a smart show that smart people find interesting, even when they don’t agree with the conclusions. This is in pretty stark contrast to the tone of most “paranormal” shows which seem to pander to the credulous.

Love listening to Jim Moseley. Great interview as always Greg. I wish you’d consider interviewing Guy Lyon Playfair about the Enfield Poltergeist and his views on skeptics. And his time in Brazil, etc. Interesting guy. The book he wrote on Enfield is fantastic.

At the 25:00 of the interview Jim started referring to Aeolus Kephas’ essay Through a Fractured Glass, Darkly, posted at Reality Sandwich [Part One] and [Part Two]. Jason Horsley (Kephas) was a guest in Mike Clelland’s audio conversations some time ago, and his comments sparked quite a lively and interesting debate re. his opinion on Whitley Strieber.

I think you should have Jason as one of your guests one of these days, Greg. I don’t agree 100% with what he says, but his ideas are very interesting and worth considering.

Now, I don’t know if Strieber is a ‘mad genius’ or not. But I kind of suspect that our expectations from people who have allegedly experienced an intimate contact with a higher level of reality might be too unfairly lofty. I somewhat pair Strieber with Ray Stanford, who is a very intelligent man and has devoted his most of his career in trying to prove the physical reality of UFOs with very little recognition, yet he can be too stringent and cross if you dare to question his ideas or alleged evidence.

Maybe being ‘blinded by the light’ doesn’t always yield the same positive effects on all people. After all, even after his conversion Saint Paul was still something of an asshole 😉

RPJ,
I have thought of having Horsley on at some point. Maybe I will, if he will do it.

Re: Strieber– As I have said with other personalities who seem to be in the twilight areas between believability and total crap, if their ideas are interesting, I almost don’t care about their truthfulness or reputations. I nether deify nor condemn him. If he was a dick (like some people I’ve discussed) it might be easier to pick him apart and reject his whole story. I can’t do that, because it has implications that still interest me.

Another little gem. You can hear the mischievousness in his voice. The moment you start to take yourself seriously in this field then you are absolutely doomed. There may only be 49 of us, but what a 49 we are:). Keep up the good work – I listen to every show.

Just to be clear, that number of listeners is wrong. The last graphic on the bottom right has the current number of subscribers, which stands at 314 right now. That number varies from 280 to 350 depending on factors I do not know about. This does not count people who simply download the show and do not subscribe.

So, I don’t really know exactly how many people listen to the show. It could be 300 or it could be thousands. I think it varies depending on who the current posted guest is and what keywords I choose to use for them.

Look at it this way, Greg. You might have fewer listeners (ed. note: who cares?), but at least those listeners get a better show, without commercials for survival gear and other crap. Oh, yeah – you’re not sharing time on a “network” with Alex Jones.

Win, win, win. 🙂

File it under: “Some people will just never understand that quantity does not necessarily equal quality”.

Actually, I think I did that two or three times, but haven’t in quite a while. You are, of course, always free to stop following me on Twitter. I hear Justin Bieber could use a few more fans, so maybe you could transfer your attention to hi. 😉

This was a great show — no doubt about it. Moseley’s view on something is worth probably a hundred others. I especially enjoyed his comments on Strieber and that Kephas article discussed.

Regarding the latter: please don’t give that guy any air time. I don’t know how people keep coming up with the idea Kephas has something intelligent to say. His article is a combination of bad research, insinuation, and lousy reasoning and is of value only to those who already hold the view that Strieber is nuts.

Greg as listener #51 just thought you’d want the heads up on your Bennewitz book being “rewritten” in this thread http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread825493/pg1
There’s a new Bennewitz book out that does a 180 on yours. Amazing how the “true believers” will do anything to twist reality around. But anyway thanks for the new Moseley interview.

Maybe I shouldn’t dogpile on Steinberg, but I can’t resist. The Paracast is a mess even without the endless, sleazy advertising. And if this is a popularity contest, the craptasticness that is Coast To Coast AM would win every time.

I haven’t listened to it in months, so I would not know. I wanted to concentrate on my own show and interests, which I why I resigned from my co-hosting duties at Paracast. I have no advertising, because I (perhaps stupidly) don’t want to bother with it. One benefit of this is that I don’t have to care what advertisers or irate listeners think.

I *PRAISE* that you don’t have to cut a conversation in order to go to a commercial break.

I understand that the Paracasters are trying to make a living out of their show and advertisers need to be satisfies, but as a listener allowing a conversation to flow to interesting places is far more important that hearing about how I need to buy a holster so I can carry a concealed gun because the IRS wants to audit my ass off and I need to remember to buy an extra case of camel’s milk and freeze-dried food because the economy is going to hell anyway 😛

Making fun of the Paracast’s advertisers is a cheap shot, I know, but as a member of their forum and being aware of the type of skeptic-minded and computer-savvy thirty-something individuals that engross their listening audience, it really makes you wonder if GCN Radio has ANY idea of their target market.

PS: I have a habit of not subscribing to the sites I frequent. That said, I do have Radio Misterioso on my iTunes list as part of the podcast collection I like to listen to when I’m pedaling my bike 😉

Just stumbled across this. A nice treat- pretty much just like a phone call with him. His comments about Bill Moore (and his far-reaching negative contributions) were pretty interesting. Greg stands up for Moore, but Jim remembers Moore’s hucksterism, showmanship and mercenary side. Greg’s comments about selling copies of the speech at $25 a pop are a great example of this.

Getting back to Jim, I hope things go well for him. He really spans the eras and it’s a crime that his contributions are not more widely recognized. Thanks Greg for putting this show together.

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